Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-02-19
IN THE POSTOFFICE.
STRANGE SIGHTS AND ODD FOLK
IN UNCLE SANS BUILDING.


study OF the Restless Human Panorama
in the Corri.ior~->uggestions OF Ro-
nance and GIimp,e> OF Nisery-Fa,ture
Ground for Beggars.
The federal building, ordinarily known as
the postofiice, stands in a sea Of slush. New
York Is pretty dirty place at the best, but
the dirtiest spot is Mail street, extending from
Broadway to Park row, and utilized by l0O,-
oO0 people every morning and every after
noon. Il makes no difference whether the
SNOW has leen cleared from every street in
the city. Mail street, which is supposed Ia he
cared for by the general government on the
south and the municipality ON the north, Is
sluShy in wet weather. piece of ice when
the wind whistles chilly acruss it. Its a
pretty sight, too, this great, brown stoned
granite buiiding-heavy, cumbersome, with
not les than a score Of broken windows and
dirt galore Let Us scuff through the slush
as best We can and approach the main Ell
trance, fronting the great square where stand
the Astnr house, st. Pauls church and the
dirty depot of all the surface roads.
Brtyt All the time Immediately in
which 10y long continuity Of attrition is worn
away into II series of little basins, which in
SNOWY weather are filed with slush and ON
rainy DAYS with puddly water.
Push open the door.
What's here. Mercy. what a smell An
snalysiS Of this atmosphere would reveal
precious compund, would it noti Whom do
We s-.! Boothlacks, messenger boys, groups
- - L.. ~
Irish, rural guests by ths score, girls peeping
the windows, long lines of expectaut pur
>haSers Of stamps, warmers of coat tails, tele-
graph operators and over all a continuous
1um a. of busy hives Of bees
THE WATCHER AND THE WATCHED.
Who Is tins goi geous creature with gold
bullion on his cap buttons Of shining brass,
switching a cane right and left. hitting now
IA boy, punching now tramp, consequential
ali the :imei
He's n watchm.an.
He watches all these people of whom have
spoken, and he watches the unrolling Of hui
maIsitys panorama day in and day out until
De might, if he would, become SO thoroughly
familiar with human nature in all its phases
as To make him fit for a professorship in the
great college Of the races. | stand by his side
and share with him his opportunity. Four
toys rush in. Pell nell they approach this,
that and the other box. quickly they unlock
and empty its contents in their bags With
whoop and veil and lad like scream they rush
out again An old lady with a coalscuttle
bonnet, a faded suit Of brown, timidly ap-
proaches the officer and asks for a stamp He
brusquely points 10 window at the other
end Of the corridor. Timidly she moves away
again, obviously not understanding the direc-
ton. a she stops and asks again of passer.
A queer looking man, pale as white paper,
thin, see,iily dressed, slides up 10 the window
Of the general delivery, and with a look Of
suspicion on either side whispers a name, is
compelled 10 repeat it, answers question or
two. receives a letter, pockets 1t and slides
away.
Who is it, whence comes it, why didn't he
open and read the letteri
4 Jaunty girl, with a red feather and a bird
and gold handled umbrella. passes with an
entirely satisfied look upon her face, takes
from her pockethook a bill, buys some stamps.
and with a nod and smile TO the clerk passes
into the street, on the other side, humming TO
herself a blithely Is once sang the bird
Ghich ornaments her hat
AIDS To STRANGERS
Hanging in various corners of the dark and
gloomy corridors are lists OF unclaimed letters,
in French German and English. The picture
Of strangers far from home, old men. young
girls each wondering whether there is news
from those they love across the sea, is both
interesting and pathetic. To see an old man
point his stubby finger to the list behind the
glass and vainly seek to find his own name
printed there. is of itself a suggestion TO an
artist, but 10 watch the varying phases of
emotion as seeking he thinks he finds, or then
has lost, affords light and shadow fof genre
p cture. the interest of which need not lie ak
aggerated. A detective mails a decoy letter,
a tradesman a bill, a rascal a blackmailing
anonymous disclosure, a gallant note sug-
gesting an appointment, sweetheart unveils
the secret of his love, and those great bundles
what are theyi Circulars from a patent
medicine house, notes Of invitation to a grand
banquet and those edged with black announce
u,Iits of funeral service.
Hangers on abound in the postoffice cor
riduTS.
This man. a little beaming faced Irishman,
who NAV be - and who may be 30 years Of
asc, is waiting for a job He halls every
man with gripeack and every woman with
a large bundle, hoping to earn a sumptuous
quarter or at least a humble dime.
BeSgars, too!
Ii is fine place for beggars. Beggary is a
great trade Ii has all manner Of men and
women in its practice, from the plausible
swindler down to the vulgar petitioner for the
huInbcst coin. Now and then, however, a
man may ask for aid and not be considered
rirhtfGlly beSgar.
In l.ss than an hour l0,0o people passed
through the postoffice.
1t i, a busy place.
Millions of letters, millions of newspapers,
hundreds Of thousands of packages, millions
Of dollars. all pass safely in and out, year
after year-ani the human worth that passes
IN and out every day is in volume so tire
menious. SO mul;itudinous that, if there be
nny truth at the bottom of the religious well,
and there lie n future. one may well hesitate
ERE BE- cTiticiSes the incomings and outgoings
Of the riff raft, the of scouting Of earth, to
whom the poStofiice building is not only a
warming spot and breathing place, but a
e, III for endeavor in their peculiar phases of
industry. dirty. criminal, wretched offcasts
though they be.
IL serIDs strange, but really there appears
to be a moral in everything, don't YOU know.
Joe Howard in New York World.
Developing the Rhine Falls.
The nearest thing in Europe TO the Niagara
falls the Rhine falls at Schaffhausen, has